Foolish Games
by sweetkiwi604
Summary: Every game had a loser and Josephine had to accept the fact that this was one she might not win. Merle/OC. One shot. Complete.


**Well, it's a day early but this is for my dear EnglishPoet for her birthday who randomly sends me pictures of Michael Rooker throughout the day. Hope you have the best birthday (tomorrow) ;)**

Foolish Games

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride; I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close." - Pablo Neruda

Josephine had read about a love like that before but thought it was something authors threw into stories to give the lonely women, like her, some kind of hope. A love like that just didn't exist in a world of TV dinners and a case of beer. She didn't live somewhere romantic like Paris or Rome, she hated high heels, and she was sure her heart wasn't even capable of loving someone so deeply. She could dream about it though and she did almost every night before she was brought back into the sharp reality of her life.

The light streamed through the thin curtains pulling Josephine from her sleep as she lazily threw her arm over to the empty side of the bed. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know he was gone; the sheets were cool to the touch, his scent barely ghosting the pillow anymore. Most mornings she wondered if it had all been a dream. She wouldn't be surprised if it was but Josephine didn't give her imagination that much credit. He was a man with a fire burning deep inside with the flames dancing along his skin. It wasn't until recently that the warmth from that very fire started to burn her instead. He was a charmer, that was obvious, but it was more than that. He was the mystery she wanted to solve. It had started as something casual, a body to keep her warm during the cool nights in Georgia. Merle would slip through the front door, eyes full of lust and pants already straining against his erection. The hello was him pulling his shirt over his head while he hungrily drunk in the beauty in front of him. Josephine would say hi back by taking her hair out of its clip and letting it cascade over her shoulders. They found a way of communicating without ever saying a word and if it had been any different then she wasn't sure she would have fallen for him as hard as she did. Josephine would drag her fingernails down his bare back in a way of asking how his day was. Merle would growl in response, grabbing her ass and hoisting her up causing her legs to wrap around him to keep from falling. That was just the everyday pleasantries and when they got to the philosophical conversations he was able to take her higher than she thought was possible. Josephine would fall asleep wrapped in his protective arms but once she woke Merle was gone without the simplest of goodbyes.

Josephine had been warned to stay away from him. He was the one her friends whispered about- the one whose daddy loved nothing but the bottle and whose mama had been taken too soon. There were rumors floating around town about his younger brother but no one knew the truth, no one but Josephine that was. Merle Dixon had gotten him out, he saved every last penny and put Daryl on the first bus out of town to go live with family friends of his mama. They hadn't been as close as they would have if Daryl stayed but it was a price Merle was willing to pay. Merle had put himself in the line of danger that was his father in order to keep his little brother safe and free of the scars that littered his own body. He would never tell you if you asked him about it, he'd laugh it off and say the boy went running for the hills like the pussy he was. Josephine hadn't bought that line though because she could see the humor that danced on his lips didn't reach his eyes instead seeing a war raging behind the blue depths she could drown in. It was in the moments of pure ecstasy that his walls started to crumble and for the briefest of seconds she could see the broken man he hid from the rest of the world. She could think of him for hours and never get bored with the idea of him- of having someone waltz into her life and firmly grasp her heart without letting go.

"Hot as fuck tonight." She hadn't even heard him come in and glanced up to see him leaning in the doorway, completely unaware of how he was now tearing that same heart to pieces. He went to take his shirt off but stopped when he realized she hadn't moved from the couch. "You sick or something?" Josephine shook her head and a seductive smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he shed his shirt and undid the buckle on his belt. His pants hung low on his hips as he made his way over to her. He went to kiss the side of her neck but she moved at the last second. "What the hell?"

"I'm not a hooker, Merle."

He stared blankly at her, his face slowly turning to a mask of confusion. "I know."

She snorted in disbelief and motioned to the obvious bulge in his pants. "It's not just about sex for me…it hasn't been for a long time now." He tried to suppress the groan that threatened to escape but it was no use and it only fueled the pain inside of her, making her angrier. "Don't give me that shit. I deserve to know if you're going to be here when I wake up in the morning." Merle fished a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and stuck one between his lips, lighting it and letting the smoke billow around them. "Did I get this wrong? Did I mistake you for someone who actually gives a fuck about me?"

"Josie," he let out a long breath as he tipped the stem of ashes into the glass tray.

The easy thing to do would have been to walk out the door and never look back. He had done it before, multiple times, but this was his Josie sitting in front of him with those damn baby blues that were rimmed with tears she would never let fall in front of him. This wasn't the conversation he knew and if one thing scared Merle Dixon it was having anyone besides his brother, his blood, put their trust so willingly in his hands. His mind was filled with the memories of his parents before his daddy had been possessed by the devil himself. Merle was just a young boy whose only thought was which truck he would play with that day. He might not have known back then what love looked like but he definitely felt it. He would watch his daddy come home from a long day at the factory and bring his mama a daisy that she would put in a glass of water in the middle of the dinner table. Merle remembered the nights he'd sit up in bed and listen to the laughter radiating throughout the house.

That seemed like a different lifetime now. He wasn't sure exactly when things had reached the peak before tumbling down the hill. His daddy would drink his way to the bottom of the bottle every night of the week and the laughter that used to fill the house was now replaced with painful cries that cut Merle deeper than his daddy's belt ever could. Josephine had been different from the rest of the one night stands he had become accustomed to. Merle would lie next to her in the early hours of the morning and just watch her sleep, amazed with how peaceful she appeared. It was a peace he longed for but knew he would never truly achieve. There was something about the way her nose would scrunch when she laughed and her eyes filled with a light he never wanted to see go out that kept him in that living room at all instead of running for the hills.

His silence while his mind and heart raged in war set Josephine on edge and she figured she was right. They always said the devil would come disguised as everything you always wanted. It didn't matter if her soul was down on its knees pleading for him to stay his silence gave her the answer she would never be able to hear. And there it was, that damn smoke that always lingered when he wasn't around as a constant reminder of her foolishness. Merle took another drag from his cigarette and her eyes blurred as if the smoke was some sort of cover for his lies. He didn't care about her, he didn't give a damn about anything but getting his dick wet, and worst of all she had let him.

"Put that fucking thing out," Josephine nearly growled as she stared at the burning stick of nicotine.

Unfazed by her request, he let out a breath of smoke right in her face. Rage surged through her veins as she got off the couch and plucked it from between his lips. Merle grabbed her wrist, spinning her to face him, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"You're going to start considering what I want too." 

Merle chuckled, his shoulders shaking from the laughter, "You think I don't know what you want?"

"Prove that you do," she taunted him, expecting him to do anything but what he did next.

His grip tightened on her wrist just enough so that she wouldn't be able to get away as he pressed his lips to hers in a heated, forceful kiss. Josephine wanted to let him do whatever he wanted, for his hands to trail every inch of her skin, but that twinge in her heart came back and she pushed him away. "You can't keep doing that."

A smug, all knowing smirk pulled at the corner of his lips, "That's what you want."

"That's not _all_ I want," she finally yanked her arm free and dropped his cigarette into her glass of soda that was on the end table.

Josephine turned back around and he was there, looming over her, breathing heavily. Every word that would never pass his lips, the confirmation that maybe he wanted it too, was right there in his eyes; lust, anger, pain, loneliness. They had started a new conversation, one that went past the everyday pleasantries and deeper than the philosophical conversations. It was almost as if their souls had finally connected, molded together, and Josephine could feel how much he wanted her. Merle Dixon wanted her, a simple girl in a rundown town that no one would ever remember. She had somehow wormed her way into his heart, tearing down the final wall, so she could fully see the man in front of her. Josephine wasn't sure if he could feel the same warmth that was filling her from the inside but she needed to show him exactly what she wanted except he moved first. Closing the inch gap there was between them, he forced his lips on hers again. She responded, biting his lip but was so caught up in the moment that she drew blood.

He took a step back and wiped his lip with his thumb, "Fuck."

A new fire burned behind his eyes that unleashed the beast inside of her. She pushed him up against the wall taking control of the conversation he normally led. Hands roamed while they made out as if their kisses were the oxygen needed to breathe. They were pawing at each other harder than usual but he was careful to stay on the side of gentle without fully falling over the edge and hurting her. Josephine, on the other hand, was lost in it all. She needed to show him the pain that had been tearing at her heart every morning she woke up and he was gone. The seeping wounds that only got deeper the nights he wouldn't show up at all only to stumble in the next half drunk and looking for a quick lay. She was sure to have bruises and he already had scratches from her nails that broke the skin on his chest.

Fighting for the control he had relented in the beginning, Merle suddenly grabbed her hips and spun them around, her back hitting the wall with a soft thud. He ground into her and she had to bite her lip to stop the moan from escaping. His hand found her neck, holding her head up so his lips would be free to nip at her collarbone and mark her as his own. The second his teeth made contact with her skin, Josephine held the back of his head, wanting him to be even closer.

This wasn't enough and she needed more. She pushed him away long enough to pull her shirt over her head and release her hair from its clip. His gaze landed on her taut buds that hadn't been confined in bra as she popped the button on her jeans, pulling the zipper down slowly. Walking backwards down the hall, she had just stepped out of her pant leg when he was on her again, pushing her up against the wall. A picture crashed to the floor as she tried to brace herself while Merle's fingers teased her over the soaked panties. His tongue traced the mark he left on her collarbone before he kissed up the side of her neck, "And you say I don't know what you want."

Josephine gave a sharp tug on the end of the belt so that it came out of his jeans. Folding it in half, she snapped it causing the noise to echo off the walls. Moving once more toward her bedroom she held the belt out to him. "Prove to me you do…better yet, show me."

Merle's jeans pooled around his ankles, kicking them to the side, he rid himself of his boxer briefs and followed her to the bedroom. She scooted back on the bed until she was leaning against the headboard, legs splayed, inviting him in while she pulled at the leather belt almost testing its strength. Drunk on lust, Josephine slipped out of her panties, tossing them to the side before letting her fingers roam her heat. Her left hand clutched the comforter as her right worked her towards an early release but just as she was about to climax something cold and metal clasped around her left wrist.

"What are you doing?" Josephine questioned as she watched Merle attach the other end of the handcuffs to her headboard. She had been so wrapped up in the moment she didn't hear him grab them out of the bedside table. Come to think of it, she didn't even think he knew they were there. A chuckle passed his lips as he walked around the bed, snatching his belt from of the covers, and securing it around her right wrist. "This some master plan of yours? Bind me to the bed and then what? Leave? Run away, again, like the pussy you are."

If he heard her words he didn't show it as he slithered up her body like a snake leaving possessive marks along the way. A thick finger sunk into her without warning and she writhed against the restraints as he swallowed her scream. He pumped his fingers in a steady rhythm until he could feel her start to tighten around him and he pulled out, sticking his fingers in her mouth. "Think a pussy could get you off like that? Don't tell me I don't know you, Josie. Ain't an inch on you I don't know."

"Then quit bitchin' around and fuck me."

He grabbed her hips, positioning her like he wanted before thrusting into her causing a moan to spill from her mouth. This was unfair, she wanted to be able to touch him, taste the sin on his lips but when she tried to pull against the restraints a hand came around her throat with enough pressure to keep her in place. Pulling on her arms as he thrust into her, the handcuff started to cut into her skin but the belt hadn't been secured as well and with one more hard tug her hand was free. Josephine reached up and grabbed the back of his head, crashing their lips together with so much force she could already feel the bruise. His tongue traced hers before dragging his teeth along her bottom lip and letting out a low growl as her nails pierced his skin.

He thrust into her again and again, each time harder than the one before, her breasts bouncing wildly from the movement only turning him on more. Wrapping her legs around him, he slid in deeper and swore that if he didn't cum soon he was going to split her in two. He knew what she needed to fall over the edge, kissing the side of her neck to find her pulse point he bit down causing her pussy to tighten around him. He held out as long as he could before pulling out and coating her stomach with his seed.

"Fucking hell," she panted, completely worn out, dragging her fingers through the sticky substance. He handed her a few tissues to clean herself off while he found the key for the cuffs.

Merle let her out of the handcuffs and once she was free rubbed her wrist to soothe the reddened area. He lounged on the bed with a hand behind his head, a slight line of worry creasing his forehead, "I hurt ya?"

"No," she shook her head, crawling under the covers. "Think that was some of the best we've had."

"Damn straight," Merle mumbled, eyes already getting heavy with sleep.

Josephine laid there not wanting him to leave but fearing he would. She tried to stay awake as long as possible figuring that if she didn't sleep then he wouldn't be able to sneak out. Curled on her side she watched his chest rise and fall with each breath, whispering right before she started to drift off, "Please…don't go."

**X-X-X**

Josephine silently prayed that he would be there in the morning and that just maybe something she said, or did, convinced him to stay. She vowed to herself that if he was gone she would be done with him. She couldn't keep bleeding her heart for a man who didn't see her. She woke the next morning and immediately reached for where he had been the night before but she was, once again, in bed alone. A single tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. Every game had a loser and she had to accept the fact that this was one she wasn't going to win. Slipping out of bed, she pulled her bathrobe on and secured it around her waist before padding out to the kitchen. Each step found a new muscle that was sore from the night before but it was nothing compared the pieces her heart was in.

"Morning."

Josephine jumped at his voice, her hand coming to rest over her rapidly beating heat. There he was, Merle sitting at the kitchen table, feet propped up on the chair next to him with a cigarette hanging from between his lips. She almost didn't notice the flower on the table but a single daisy sat in a glass of water. He wasn't his daddy, Josephine wasn't his mama, and he was done playing these foolish games.

It was time to prove that Dixons were good men.


End file.
